The cancellation of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) (as well as the ‘Four Years From Now’ (4YFN), the YoMo and the Xside), which should have started this coming Monday, 24th February 2020 has generated and shall continue to generate damages for a multitude of companies and individuals.
The organising association of the mobile ‘phone trade fair itself, the GSMA, estimated the economic impact of this 14th edition of the MWC on Barcelona and its metropolitan area to be 492 million Euros, with 110,000 expected participants coming from 200 countries, and 13,000 temporary recruitments.
However, who shall have to assume the damages is still unknown. GSMA argued that “force majeure” as justification of the decision to cancel the MWC because of the outbreak of coronavirus, which is grounds for exemption from contractual and non-contractual obligations. Therefore, establishing whether or not “force majeure” occurred shall determine whether the GSMA’s liability can be excluded.
In Spanish law, “force majeure” is regulated along with “caso fortuito – act of God” – although it is not expressly regulated – article 1.105 of the Spanish Civil Code, states in the following terms: “Apart from the cases expressly mentioned in the law, and those in which the obligation is so stated, no one shall be liable for those events which could not have been foreseen, or which, if foreseen, were unavoidable“.
Likewise, case-law doctrine of the Spanish Supreme Court defines “force majeure” as a “legal fact arising from nature, or from a person acting by imposing force or violence to prevent the natural development of events” (Judgment of the Supreme Court number 167/2013 of 21st March 2013, among many others).
According the “Daily Insurance Bulletin” the GSMA has insured a capital of Euro 120 million, including different coverage for major events such as civil liability, material damage, accidents, terrorist attacks, riots, but not a possible pandemic, which is why we understand that the organisation has resorted to “force majeure”.
Likewise, it is not to be forgotten that this decision was taken once some thirty large multinational companies announced that they would not attend the trade fair. To date, a health emergency has not yet been declared, although the World Health Organisation (WHO) is likely to make a statement to that effect.
In any case, what is provided for in the contracts signed between the various agents participating in the fair and their respective insurance policies will be decisive and must be analysed in detail in order to assess potential claims.
Carla Villavicencio
Vilá Abogados
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21st February 2020
